Hero of the 1983 World Cup, Mohinder Amarnath and opener Gautam Gambhir hogged the limelight at the annual BCCI awards function.

Amarnath who followed in the footsteps of his illustrious father Lala was bestowed with the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, comprising a trophy and Rs 15 lakh.

Former India captain Lala Amarnath was the first recipient of the prestigious award in 1994.

Left-handed batsman Gambhir, who missed the third and final Test against Sri Lanka to attend his sister's wedding, received the Polly Umrigar Award for being India's best cricketer between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009.

The Delhi batsman, who received a trophy and a cheque for Rs 5 lakh, scored 1269 runs from eight Tests at 84.6 (inclusive of five hundreds), during this phase with memorable efforts of 206 against Australia at Delhi, and a match-saving ten-hour marathon worth 137 against New Zealand at Napier.

He also scored 670 runs from twenty-one ODIs, and 177 runs from eight T20 Internationals, during this period.

Special awards in the form of mementos were given to Indian team stalwarts Rahul Dravid (for taking the most number of catches) and Sachin Tendulkar (for completing two decades of international cricket).

Ranji Trophy heroes Rajinder Goel and Amarjit Kaypee, the highest wicket-taker (640 wickets) and scorer (7623 runs) respectively in the first seventy-five seasons of the championship that has (1934-35 to 2008-09), were also felicitated, along with 38-time title-winners Mumbai.

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Amish Saheba, member of the ICC's International Umpires' Panel, was conferred with the newly instituted "Best Umpire" award by the BCCI.

The other award winners were:

Wasim Jaffer (Mumbai) - Madhavrao Scindia Award for scoring the maximum runs in 2008-09 Ranji Trophy - Trophy and cheque for Rs. 1 lakh

Dhawal Kulkarni and Ravindra Jadeja: Madhavrao Scindia Award for taking the maximum number of wickets in 2008-09 Ranji Trophy - Trophy and cheque for Rs.

After receiving the best cricketer of the year award from BCCI president Shashank Manohar, Gautam Gambhir said that he was very happy and honoured to receive it in the year after his favourite player and India team-mate Virender Sehwag got it.

"Last year Sehwag said that he was happy to receive it after his favourite player (Sachin) had got it. Now I am happy to receive it after my favourite player (Sehwag)," he said.

"It is great to be part of such a great team," Gambhir said.

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